The present invention relates to a method for producing frozen dough without the need for preproofing and which can be subjected to baking without the traditional thawing procedures.
Freezing of baking dough for distribution has widely come into effect in the United States. The process for preparing frozen doughs and baking the same has several drawbacks. Among them are the length of time needed for preparing the dough prior to freezing and distribution as well as the time needed in preparing the dough for baking. Further, problems have arisen in the stability of the dough after freezing and thawing.
In the past, two types of frozen dough systems have been used. The most commercially acceptable frozen dough system involves the preparation of a frozen dough by the straight dough method which comprises the steps of formulation and mixing; division rounding, and molding; and freezing and storage. The dough is not proofed prior to freezing. The dough fermentation before freezing is suppressed to preserve the yeast activity until proofing after thawing. This is accomplished by maintaining the ingredients in a cool state which is not conducive to yeast growth during mixing. The dough must undergo a thawing procedure and proofing steps which usually required two to twelve hours for thawing and one to four hours for proofing. This is inconvenient inasmuch as the bread dough should be removed from the freezer at least twelve hours ahead of time and cannot be used "instantaneously".
An alternative is the no-thaw dough system such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,450,177 and 4,406,911. In these patents, a frozen dough is prepared using the straight dough method comprising the steps of formulation, mixing, fermentation in bulk, division, shaping, proofing followed by freezing and storage. Under this system, the usual bread ingredients are complimented with a combination of gums, protein film formers such as vital wheat gluten, milk proteins and the like and surface active agents. The ingredients can be mixed at ambient temperature inasmuch as yeast activity is not suppressed. Since proofing takes place before freezing, thawing and proofing are not required so that the bread can proceed from the freezer through baking within an hour.
One difficulty with this procedure is the time requirement needed to proof the dough prior to freezing. High speed processing is more desirable for a more economical product. In addition, manufacturers are hesitant about packaging proofed dough in containers such as bags because of the tendency to tear the dough and cause loss of entrapped gas. Nonproofed dough is not subject to those problems and can be handled on an automatic packaging line without cause for worry regarding damaging of the proofed bread.
While each of these techniques is effective, they both have drawbacks which in effect make each one of them unsatisfactory.